This invention relates to the preservation of paint brushes, and has particular relationship to the preservation of paint brushes for future use after they have been used and the bristles are impregnated with paint.
Since good paint brushes are relatively costly, it is desirable that after a brush has been used, it be preserved in condition to be reused months or even years later. For appropriate preservation, it is necessary, not only that the bulk of the paint be removed from the bristles, but that the removal of paint be substantially complete. The cleaning of the last trace of paint from the bristles is a time-consuming, dirty, tedious and somewhat harmful task involving kneading, hand manipulating and scrubbing in solvents which are harmful to the skin and costly in the quantities demanded. Many, if not all, of the solvents used for this purpose evolve vapors of varying degree of toxicity which are impossible to void inhaling while working with these solvents. A thorough cleaning in soapy water is also recommended. However, this cleaning must take place immediately after the painting job, and the average user finds it disagreeable and difficult to expend the necessary energy at that time.
A common practice which is followed because its cost is low is to insert the brush in an open can of solvent with its bristles engaging the base of the can. The brush is left in this condition in the can until its next use. In this practice, when, as is usual, the interval between uses of the brush is relatively long, the solvent evaporates and the bristles of the brush become matted together to form a hard cake and are bent and a new brush is required.
In accordance with the teachings of the prior art, there are also brush keepers. However, these keepers are costly, and brushes of different sizes require different keepers. The common practice is to sacrifice the brushes rather than to buy keepers. Indeed there appears to be no economical and reliable facility for preserving paint brushes available, suitable for the average householder. Quoting Modern Chemical Specialties, Milton A. Lesser, MacNair Dorland Company, New York, 1950, "There are probably few articles purchased for the average householder in which there has been greater waste than in the case of paint brushes."
It is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to provide apparatus of low cost for preserving paint brushes which shall effectively clean and preserve the brushes, and shall accommodate in a single unit brushes of a wide range of sizes.